Benjamin Disraeli(1804-1881) the outsider by sheer will and his wit made to the top. On his way he had to demolish quite a few and cut many to size.
He was a dangerous adversary in a verbal duel.
Here are some samples:
on Sir. Robert Peel‘The Rt. Hon’ble Gentleman’s smile is like the silver fittings on a coffin’.
ii.‘The Rt.Hon’ble Gentleman is reminiscent of a poker. The only difference is that a poker gives off occasional signs of warmth’.
On Lord John Russell who represented Liberals:
‘If a traveler were informed that such a man was the Leader of the House of Commons, he might begin to comprehend how the Egyptians worshiped an insect.’
On William Ewart Gladstone:
‘He has not a single redeeming defect.’
ii
‘He made his conscience not his guide but his accomplice.’
iii‘He was essentially a prig, and among prigs there is a freemasonry which never fails. All the prigs spoke of him as the coming man.’
On Daniel O’Connell:
‘…a systematic liar and a beggarly cheat; a swindler and a poltroon… He has committed every crime that does not require courage.’
There was dyspeptic philosopher who was impotent but when his bile was up he could bite with especial venom.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) on one occasion cried out against Disraeli thus:‘How long will John Bull allow this absurd monkey to dance on his chest?’
benny